Reboot: Luigi's Mansion For Wii, DS

Do you realize it's been seven years since Nintendo released Luigi's Mansion alongside the launch of GameCube? I can hardly believe it. The project, which starred Mario's cowardly brother on a trek through a haunted house, proved a charming, funny, and polished affair. It played well, making use of the GameCube controller's dual-analog setup; it was meant to be a showpiece of the new pad, in fact, although I don't think Nintendo fully succeeded in that goal. It also looked good. As Luigi wobbled with fluid animation through eerie hallways and rooms filled with paintings and furniture, lightning bolts flashed in the foreground and cast shadows onto nearby walls. I'd be remiss if I didn't additionally note the catchy soundtrack full of jingles so memorable that I've adopted a couple of them as ringers for my iPhone. And using the character's flashlight and vacuum to find and trap ghosts was a clever, engaging mechanic. Obviously, I enjoyed the game -- the seemingly lower review score of 7.0 I gave it was the result of Mansion's shallow nature, nothing else. I mean, I breezed through the experience in five hours and rarely encountered genuine challenges.

Sandwiched between Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess in the pantheon of Nintendo console launch titles, Luigi's Mansion pales in comparison. Although the Big N still sold two million copies of the game, it's frankly neither as revolutionary as Mario 64 nor as epic as Twilight Princess. Yet, I really do feel like Mansion is a franchise worth continuing and more specifically, enhancing -- a real possibility with the added power of the Wii console and more importantly, its unique controller. Not only that, but there's an opportunity for the publisher to simultaneously migrate the series to its handheld. Just as a port of Mario 64 launched DS, so could a portable version of Luigi's Mansion help sell DSi.

What, exactly, would Nintendo need do to really reboot the series -- give it a proper makeover befitting of Wii's upgrades and advancements? The obvious answers: better controls, better graphics and a new hook. But since I'm just editorializing anyway, indulge me as I get into the specifics -- a melange of ideas I think would make for a far better experience -- ones that really utilize the strengths of Nintendo's system.

Luigi's Mansion as seen in rendered form, circa Space World 2000. A Wii version could look much better.

There are the presentational tweaks and upgrades. Luigi's Mansion employed a static camera system that moved with the character as he explored environments, triggering transparency for walls and objects before they could obstruct the viewpoint. I actually liked this method and feel that re-using it would make a lot of sense in certain situations, even if for reasons of nostalgia -- fan service for those who really enjoyed the GCN title. However, I also believe Nintendo would be wise to take a look at a game like Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, which positions the camera behind the back of the main character as he explores the world. (Click here to watch a video.) This is both more immersive and would jell better with some of the gameplay controls I have in mind. Ideally, a Wii sequel would employ the two different viewpoints depending on the situation.

Luigi's Mansion featured some great character animation and lighting effects, but with a small bump to Wii's GPU and CPU, not to mention roughly double the RAM and a much bigger storage medium, there's plenty more than can be done. In fact, at Space World 2000, Nintendo showcased a rendered demo of Luigi's Mansion as it hoped it would be; the end product didn't quite live up to those initial visuals, but I think a Wii build could easily surpass them. Think about it. More room for texture clarity and variation and a little more power for advanced texture and lighting effects, from a plethora of maps (specularity, bump) to per-pixel-like lighting for Luigi's flashlight. Now throw in volumetric fog for environmental effect. Bloom lighting to bring ghosts to life. And crank up the particles so that when Mario's frightened brother has a ghost caught with his vacuum, the trail sparkles and pops as it shifts between colors to indicate just how close Luigi is to catching the enemy.

"A Wii version of Luigi's Mansion could take advantage of the systems more powerful technology in many fantastic ways," says Eric Nofsinger, chief creative officer at High Voltage Software, currently making The Conduit for Wii. "The scale of the game could be increased, allowing the player to explore not only the mansion, but the environment around the mansion. Luigi could navigate a hedge maze, search through a haunted greenhouse, get lost in the woods, or rummage through a garage filled with ancient vehicles."

Adds Nofsinger: "The Wii can more effectively handle liquid and water effects, which allow the Mansion to have bodies of water for Luigi to interact with. These could be ponds, swimming pools, or flooded basement rooms, but they would all add visual pizzazz. These could also be used to add underwater exploration elements and ghost fighting to the game."

Nofsinger also has some ideas about lighting. "These effects can be dramatically increased as well. Not only should Luigi's flashlight be less of an obvious 3D 'cone,' but all the shadows should all be generated in a more real-time manner, allowing the ghosts, and Luigi's flashlight to cast shadows when their light is thrown on nearby objects," he says. "Colored lighting would help as well, allowing the various brightly colored ghosts to affect their environment. The player could even cycle through colored lenses for Luigi's flashlight for gameplay effects (different colors could be used to highlight different ghosts, or hidden objects)."

Don't stop there, though. As games like Boom Blox have proved, realistic physics are every bit as possible on Wii as they are other systems and this fact could take the Luigi's Mansion franchise to new heights. Imagine being able to use the character's vacuum to manipulate in-world items as well as suck in ghosts, stacking objects atop each other to create a makeshift ladder for Luigi to use or to interact with the world in realistic ways. For example, floating a burning candle across the room to a nearby curtain, which catches fire, revealing a hidden doorway beyond. Even ghosts could affect physics. Picture a ghost caught in your vacu-stream battling to get away, regularly toppling objects and hurling items at you in an effort to break free. Whereas the original game felt repetitive, a little light on depth, regular physics-based puzzles would alleviate or altogether eliminate such a shortcoming.